Jay-Z shoots, scores with NBA Finals reveal

An NBA Finals reveal. A secret strategy. A three-minute docu-mercial.

Hip-hop's latest apocalyptic moment is proving to be marketing genius.

Only one person could have pulled that off. You might call him Jigga, Jigga-man, or even Hova - we all call him Jay-Z.

Ironicially, in what was supposed to be Kanye West's week - between his new album and the Kimye spawn - Jay-Z blew both rap fans and basketball aficionados away Sunday evening during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, with a one-time TV showing of a commercial promoting his new Magna Carta Holy Grail, to be released July 4.

Fans had no idea the album was coming. And in another marketing twist, the business mogul announced that Samsung Galaxy users would get the album free on July 1.

"The ad was impeccably placed," said James Peterson, an expert on hip-hop culture and director of Africana studies at Lehigh University. "What wasn't surprising was the timing and placement of the ad."

Jay-Z told us about the coming of Magna Carta in such an extreme fashion, he built a level of excitement that left the rap world in a chokehold, Peterson said.

Jay-Z gave fans a sneak peek into what could have been an exclusive recording session of the new album. He raps, plays an invisible piano, interacts with four of the best-known producers in the industry: Timbaland, Rick Rubin, Swizz Beatz, and Pharell.

Social media exploded the moment the commercial ended. Four days later, the hashtag "Magna Carta" is still trending.

ESPN basketball analyst Chris Palmer immediately sent the commercial's link to his 72,500 Twitter followers. Temple basketball star Khalif Wyatt, like many, simply tweeted #MagnaCarta to his 10,800 followers.

The one-word hashtag reinforced Jay-Z's self-proclaimed, sharply manufactured, bigger-than-life persona. The world needs just two words - that he picked himself - to describe him.

Jay-Z faithfuls on social media erupted at the news, thrilled that Hova was back with his first solo album in four years. They raved about the beats in the commercial.

Whether they loved Jay-Z or not, nobody could believe how long the commercial was.

"I'm already watching television, so I might as well finish the commercial," said Ian DeShields, 25, from Mount Airy. "I mean, it's Jay-Z, why wouldn't I?"

But the hype didn't end there. Before halftime of Game 6, fans on Twitter were hoping for Part 2 of the Carta saga.

Jay-Z has always circumvented the old-school way of doing business in the music industry. He's a rapper and entrepreneur, owner of an entertainment empire and sports agency - and founder of the Budweiser Made in America festival, which returns to Philadelphia in August.

Now 43 and worth $500 million, he is living his dream - to be a mogul in hip-hop and sports.

"He and LeBron James almost mirror each other from culture, hip-hop, and basketball," said Sean Sweeney, a senior editor for Dime magazine, a basketball and style quarterly. "Hip-hop and basketball [have been] connected for so long."

And what Jay-Z knows is that his demographic is the Samsung Galaxy target audience - minority urbanites, 18 to 29, who like hip-hop and basketball. 

"There is somewhat of an urban preference for the phone," Peterson said. "If you go to a hip-hop show in Philly, many people will film the artist with a Galaxy. . . . There are some class affinities that go with the iPhone."

What we know wasn't cheap was how much a three-minute ad cost during the NBA Finals.

A 30-second spot on national TV costs anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000, according to David Allan, professor of music marketing at St. Joseph's. He estimated a three-minute commercial cost from $1.25 million to $3 million. Neither Jay-Z's camp nor Samsung's was talking.

"It's not cheap, but extremely effective," Allan said.

"He's a smart guy, and Samsung is a smart company and they're trying to be cooler than Apple," Allan said. "It's not many things that are harder than that, but I think they're winning."

Time will tell.

"The commercial was long. I thought it was all about Jay-Z, that's why I watched it," said 20-year-old Derrick Taylor, a business major at Kutztown University from North Philly. "But just because he used Samsung, doesn't make me want to change phones. I'm an iPhone faithful and that's just how it is. . . . But, of course, I'm still going to buy his album. It's Jay-Z we're talking about."